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flagitious
Mar. 16th, 2010 07:25 amflagitious (fla-JISH-uhs) - adj., extremely brutal or cruel, heinous, shamefully wicked.
A surprisingly old word -- you might think it a 16th century Latinism, but it's been used from the late 14th century, borrowed from French flagicieux, from Latin flagitiosus, from flagitium, shameful crime. Wiktionary offers this amusing quote from Alexander Pope: "This young Nobleman was not only a flagitious Punster himself, but was accessary to the Punning of others, by Consent, by Provocation, by Connivance, and by Defence of the Evil committed."
---L.
A surprisingly old word -- you might think it a 16th century Latinism, but it's been used from the late 14th century, borrowed from French flagicieux, from Latin flagitiosus, from flagitium, shameful crime. Wiktionary offers this amusing quote from Alexander Pope: "This young Nobleman was not only a flagitious Punster himself, but was accessary to the Punning of others, by Consent, by Provocation, by Connivance, and by Defence of the Evil committed."
---L.
